This invention relates to steel ligatures, and particularly to steel strapping, coated with zinc particles, or dust, the particles being bonded to each other and to the surface of the strapping with a resinous composition comprising a mixture of an epoxy resin and a phenolic resin. The invention also relates to a method for applying such coatings to steel ligatures.
The coating of steel to provide protection against corrosion caused by exposure to the elements has been known for many years. Organic resinous films provide protection, but weather resistance is limited, particularly when the film is thin. Pigmentation of the organic resinous film is somewhat beneficial, but weather resistance is still inadequate.
The incorporation of zinc dust into organic resinous films to enhance weather resistance is known, but these coatings, when heavily loaded with zinc, generally lack the flexibility, toughness and abrasion resistance essential to use on steel strapping.
In Lucas U.S. Pat. No. 3,242,001 there is disclosed a steel strapping coated with a heavily loaded zinc dust-containing organic resinous material of particular composition which is durable and flexible and has weather resistance substantially superior to that of prior steel strapping and adequate for most uses. Specifically, the Lucas patent teaches steel strapping coated with a thin and flexible film comprising 80 to 96 parts by weight of finely divided zinc particles, and 4 to 20 parts by weight of a resinous composition comprising a heat-cured oily butadiene polymer having a molecular weight from about 1,000 to about 30,000 and a high molecular weight linear condensation product of epichlorohydrin and bisphenol A having an average molecular weight of approximately 100,000.
While the coated steel strapping of the Lucas invention provides excellent corrosion protection for most uses, it is not satisfactory for uses in which the strapping is to be exposed to severe weathering conditions over an extended period. Some makers of bricks, for example, use steel strapping to make bundles of bricks and then store the bundles out of doors, exposed to the weather, for weeks or months until they are sold and used. Failure of the protective coating under these severe conditions causes discoloration of the bricks by the rusting of the strapping, making the bricks unsatisfactory for many purposes. Failure of the protective coating can also lead ultimately to the weakening and failure of the strapping itself to perform its function.
The use of steel strapping under conditions which expose it to acid is also a severe use. Some fabricators of aluminum ingots, for example, wrap steel strapping around bundles of ingots and then immerse the bundles into an acid pickling bath while suspending them by the strapping. Packets of acid may remain in the narrow spaces between the strapping and the ingot surfaces after the ingots are withdrawn from the acid bath and the prolonged exposure of the coated strapping to this acid may weaken the strapping and ultimately cause failure.